


Then Somebody Bends

by maggspags



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-12-01
Updated: 2012-12-01
Packaged: 2017-11-19 23:37:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/578879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maggspags/pseuds/maggspags
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She didn’t know how much she loved old westerns until the small movie theater in Pawnee had a month long festival that she didn’t miss a day of. She learned she actually hated bubble baths and Shakespeare and she loved Kurt Vonnegut and Sherlock Holmes. To be completely she was learning her new love of most books. Books she had left piled up on the floor of her closet, waiting to be read, to be explored. She learned that she was in love with words, that they affected her in a way she hadn’t known possible.  She discovered an otherwise unknown love of fishing, mostly for the silence that seemed to envelop her, the peaceful and calming sound of the water swimming with activity. Most of all Ann discovered that she liked silence, she liked her jobs, and most importantly she liked herself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Then Somebody Bends

It wasn’t planned, it just sort of happened. Maybe that is the way life is supposed to be.

Ann knew that the majority of her life had been planned, not by her of course, but by the people surrounding her. In high school she was told that she was one of the beautiful people and she better start acting like it. She never liked the parties or the pep rallies, but she went, because it was expected of her.

She became a nurse because everyone told her she would be good at it. Her hands were gentle and soft and apparently good at calming people down, so she became a nurse. She enjoyed her work and never regretted her choice, but sometimes she realizes that it wasn’t really her choice, it was just what everyone expected of her.

Even Leslie was always making plans for her. Where she should be, who she should date, where they should go, even her getting the job a city hall was in essence planned by Leslie. She normally didn’t mind but sometimes, when the world got quiet and Leslie was finally asleep she would think about what she wanted.

What she wanted, that was the most difficult question she had ever asked herself. She hadn’t really had to make a choice in years, her whole life being guided down a path by someone else. They had never steered her wrong, but maybe she needed to head down the wrong path, maybe Andy was that wrong path, or Mark, or the long line of guys she had dated that had never truly been right for her.

When her and Tom finally broke up for real this time she decides to just be single for a bit. Discover who she is without anyone else telling her. Leslie was busy with Ben and City Council so she found that she had more time to explore the things about Ann she didn’t know before.

She didn’t know how much she loved old westerns until the small movie theater in Pawnee had a month long festival that she didn’t miss a day of. She learned she actually hated bubble baths and Shakespeare and she loved Kurt Vonnegut and Sherlock Holmes. To be completely she was learning her new love of most books. Books she had left piled up on the floor of her closet, waiting to be read, to be explored. She learned that she was in love with words, that they affected her in a way she hadn’t known possible. She discovered an otherwise unknown love of fishing, mostly for the silence that seemed to envelop her, the peaceful and calming sound of the water swimming with activity. Most of all Ann discovered that she liked silence, she liked her jobs, and most importantly she liked herself. Her mother always used to say that a person that hates to be alone actually just hates themselves, which explained why there was always a long line of suitors coming and going from the Perkins’ apartment in Chicago.

Ann had rarely had a time where she didn’t have a boyfriend, and she had always heard her mother’s voice echoing in the back of her mind when she found herself single again. She didn’t want to come to the realization that she hated herself; she didn’t want to have to be alone long enough to examine all her flaws and decide that she wasn’t worthy to be loved. Yet, when she finally took the time to discover who she was, all the parts of herself that she had ignored all those years, she learned that she liked her own company and being alone wasn’t so bad.

=

“I think I’ve had some kind of a breakthrough.” She told Leslie over the phone one night. Leslie was again in D.C. visiting Ben, who was supposedly coming home soon. Which she was okay with, she actually missed the dweeb. She missed the way Leslie was around him, happy and comfortable.

“What kind of breakthrough? Like an emotional breakthrough? Is it good or bad? Do I need to come home?” Ann could hear Leslie freaking out through the phone, her mind leafing through all the different kind of breakthroughs Ann could have and settling on the worst ones no doubt.

“It was a good breakthrough, having all this alone time is making me realize that I’m okay on my own.” That statement was met by silence.

“Of course you are okay on your own, when have you never not been okay on your own.” Leslie’s voice came back after a beat or two. “You are a beautiful, independent, intelligent nurse. You are perfect.”

Ann just laughed; she had to admit that she missed Leslie. It wasn’t that she never saw her but it sometimes felt that way. Of course it was understandable, she was juggling two jobs, a boyfriend in a different state, a best friend, and well, she was Leslie. When wasn’t she juggling a million different things at once? “You are right, as always. When are you coming home?”

“Tomorrow I think. But Ben is just coming back with the food. I love you and when I get back we will go to J.J’s and talk about this breakthrough over a big old plate of waffles. They don’t make waffles here like they do back home.”

“Alright, see you then. I love you.” Ann said, hanging up the phone and turning to face her empty house. Even after all the breakthroughs in the world, after talking to Leslie Ann couldn’t help but feel a little lonely. So she grabbed her coat and decided to go for a walk.

=

She isn’t sure how but she ends up and Bernie’s, a small bar near the outskirts of Pawnee. Not her normal stomping grounds, but it looks like a quiet place full of quiet people who will let you drink in peace. So she goes in and orders a scotch. The bartender, a gruff older man with a moustache to rival Ron’s, stares at her as she takes a seat and the bar.

“Don’t normally get your type here.” He continues to stare at her while he pours her drink.

“I was in the mood for something new.” He grunts a response and moves away from her, back to his dark corner.

Ann just stared at her drink for a bit. She started to wonder what she was doing, why she was sitting in this bar by herself, drinking scotch and pretending like she belonged. That is when she saw him, out of the corner of her eye. The mustache was unmistakable. Ron fucking Swanson, he would come to this bar, of course. He probably started drinking here at the age of 14, they probably just let him pour his own drinks, hell, and he probably owned it. No, he didn’t own it, he wouldn’t own it. He’d just be the regular that doesn’t say anything and kind of looks like he is in charge. Ann fought against every fiber of her being not to look over at him. Turns out it didn’t matter, as he looked over at her first. “Perkins?”

There was a hint of shock and amusement in his voice. She grimaced and turned to look at him. “Hi Ron.” She did a little wave, which she immediately regretted. “Come here often?” She reminded to kick herself to deciding to say words later.

“Sometimes.” Ron was smiling at her, which was strange and very off-putting. She decided that it was time to cut her losses, down her drink and bail. “Is that a glass of scotch?” She heard him ask, as she raised the glass to her lips.

“It is.” She responded, after downing the drink in one go, her body shuddered as the alcohol went down.

“Well, I am impressed.” He offered her a more reassuring smile this time before turning back to his own drink.

She smiled at his profile, knowing he couldn’t see her, but still feeling good all the same. She had somehow earned what felt like a compliment from Ron Swanson and that felt like a personal victory.

=

“I’m so happy to be home.” Leslie hadn’t stopped talking since Ann had picked her up from the airport that morning. “I need those waffles, going through serious waffle withdrawal over here.” She was craning her neck looking for the waitress. Ann had been filled in, by a very excited yet somewhat jet-lagged Leslie, on all the Washington news. The White House in fact still white, Ben was good but missing Pawnee, April was doing surprisingly well and walking through the Smithsonian while it is raining outside is just about the most beautiful thing that had happened. Ann was almost surprised she had time to breathe between all the words she was saying, almost. “I’ve missed you so much Ann, I wish Ben was home so we didn’t have to do this whole long distance thing, and it’s like I’m doing two long distance relationships, me and Ben while he is in D.C. and me and you while I’m there missing him.” Leslie reached and grabbed Ann’s hand, offering up her sweet smile and reminding Ann of what a great best friend she has.

“I’m glad you are home Les.” There was a shift in Leslie at that moment. She suddenly became calm, like she suddenly remembered their phone call the day before and realized that she had been rambling on about her life and forgetting about Ann.

“So tell me about the breakthrough. Was it one of those ah-ha moments? Like you were just sitting there and suddenly an idea came to you?” Leslie shook the whipped cream, because apparently the mound almost making the waffles invisible wasn’t enough.

“No it wasn’t anything like that, it was just a gradual realization that there is a whole other part of me that I have sort of let fall to the wayside.” Ann shrugged her shoulders and looked around. She should still feel Leslie’s hand resting gently on hers, it felt comfortable. God, she had missed Leslie so much. “Oh, by the way, had a drink with Ron last night.” Leslie almost choked on her waffle.

“Like a date? Whaa…” Ann could see Leslie freaking out it was one of the rare moments where the words had actually frozen in her mind and she was just sort of stuck, and it was almost too good to pass up but she decided to not leave her friend hanging.

“No, not a date, we just ended up in the same place. He sat and drank on his end of the bar and I sat and drank on my end. It was actually kind of nice. Comfortable silence so to speak.” Leslie just looked at her, a question in her eyes but choosing not to voice it, at least not yet.

=

Ann usually ate lunch with Leslie the days she was at city hall, but after a very rushed excuse and apology it turned out that Leslie would be busy for lunch and Ann was on her own. Not that Ann minded eating alone, it was just weird being with Leslie for what had become a tradition. It didn’t matter much though, she found a nice quiet table in the corner of the courtyard and pulled out a new book and started was she hoped would be a very enjoyably quiet lunch hour.

That was until she saw Ron approaching her out of the corner of her eye. All the warning signs started blaring in her head, but she chose to just ignore them and give Ron a sweet smile. She didn’t say anything though, just turned back to her book. Much to her surprise Ron joined her at the table and pulled out what looked to be death in a tortilla and began eating. He didn’t say anything to her.

Ann kind of forgot that he was there when she finished a particularly thrilling chapter and went to pack up her stuff. But there he was, staring at a bird trying to eat a potato chip someone had dropped on the ground. Not knowing how to leave the table without being rude she decided she had to say something. “Ron.” That felt like enough.

“Perkins.” Ron said, nodding his head at her, a content smile on his face. As she walked away she started to realize that it had been one of the nicest lunches she had ever had with another person. She didn’t mean to but maybe the next day at lunch when Leslie was busy yet again she chose the same table, in hopes that the same person would come and sit down. Maybe he did.

=

It was like that for a while. Eating in silence, just being in close proximity to each other, not really knowing why they wanted to be that close in the first place. Then things slowly started to change, maybe she’d bring an extra cupcake for him because she noticed he was eyeing it the week before. Or he somehow forced some bacon onto her salad, without much protest from Ann. She might ask him one question, not wanting to push the limit too much just a simple “How is your day?” or he’d ask about nursing, which she thought was especially kind of him since she never thought he cared much about what she did.

Then there was the April crisis which she helped him get through. He helped her, somehow without saying more than a few words, deal with the Tom and Jerry fiasco as it had come to be known. They were developing a friendship that came with silent smiles over Jerry nearly falling into the trash can to grab his phone; it came with Ann seeking out Ron’s opinion on something sometimes more than Leslie because Leslie was less likely to be found. It led to more drinks at Bernie’s, and Ann actually spending a lot of time in the Parks and Rec offices when Leslie wasn’t there, she had taken to using her desk. They were becoming comfortable, Ann wasn’t sure why but she really enjoyed every minute of it.

=

“Why are we doing this again?” Leslie’s voice floated up the stairs to Ann who was trying to figure out which box to carry down next.

“Because I’ve been meaning to clean out the attic for ages, and we haven’t had much time together.” She decided on a big box marked ‘study’ and began lugging it down the stairs. Leslie was laying on her couch, random nick-knacks strewn about the living room. “Les, you were supposed to be putting that stuff back in the box.”

“I started to but how can you throw all of this stuff out? I mean these little animals are really cute and when I went to put them in the box they all looked so sad.”

“I’m not throwing them out I’m selling them, remember. That is what garage sales are for.” She set the box down and started clearing the little animals off the table and putting them back in the box and putting the next box in their spot. “ I think this is a box from my grandparent’s house.” She slowly started pulling out random objects, a few books and picture frames she would put on the bookshelf. Leslie reached in and grabbed a wrapped bundle and turned it over in his hands.

“What’s this?”

“I don’t know.” Leslie opened it to reveal a collection of small hand tools. Ann at first wasn’t sure what they were for then remembered that her grandfather had made all the furniture in his house. “I wonder if these were his woodworking tools.” She slowly took the package out of Leslie’s hands and examined them. They were worn but still usable; they showed the care that her grandfather had taken with his tools. “I forgot about these.”

“Are you selling them?” Leslie asked, poised to place them in the sell box at Ann’s command.

She contemplated it for a second but then her fingers curled around a chisel and she suddenly felt there was another purpose for them. “No, I don’t think I’ll sell these.”

“Okay.” Leslie said with a shrug of her shoulders and continued picking through the box. Ann thoughts were somewhere else, somewhere lost in a quiet lunch between two friends.

=

She didn’t seek him out that day; she just waited it to happen because she knew that it would. Turns out, she didn’t have to wait too long as he stopped by her office too ask her a question about the new health food rules in the cafeteria. She assured him that there would still be his burgers even though Chris was still trying to get rid of them.

“I promised that eating the burger wouldn’t kill anyone.” Ann said, and she swore there was a smile hiding under his mustache.

“Thank you Perkins.”

“No problem Ron.” He turned to leave her office and she realized she was slowly losing her window. “Wait Ron, I’m cleaning out my house and I found these.” She handed him the tool kit which he took carefully and looked inside. “Thought you might be able to use them or something.” Suddenly she felt very awkward because Ron was just staring at her, his face lacking any sign of emotion to tell her how he felt.

“Thanks.” He mumbled, starting down at the tools and avoided Ann’s gaze.

“It’s nothing, really. I was going to sell them and I figured that I’d rather have them with someone who would take care of them.” Ann could sense Ron wanted to get out of the office, Ann didn’t know how to let him go. “Well, um…”

“Bye.” He said gruffly and walked out of the office without another word.

“What did I just do?” She wondering, thinking she may have broken Ron Swanson.


End file.
